Detailed Off-Air Report From This Week’s Raw In Boston

PWMania.com reader Greyson Flax sent along the following:

I attended WWE Raw at the Gahden last night and loved it. Last time they were in town was the go home show for Money in the Bank and featured the re-birth of the ice cream bars. Last night did not disappoint. Crowd loved Punk and there were definitely more Punk fans than Cena fans, probably 70/30. I swear only kids and their moms love John. Anyway, the place was packed and the crowd was hot (except for Sheamus VS Swagger) but everyone was anticipating The Rock throughout.

As earlier reports stated, Usos, Ryder and Riley were all victorious before the live show.

Jim Ross dancing got over huge. Michael Cole is one hated individual.

I hope Cody ditching his mask works out for him. He seems to get over more with a gimmick. Dashing started in Boston during the 10th Anniversary of Smackdown here in Boston and we didn’t even get to see him dawn his disfigured self. Hunico got some heat just for being there. People made fun of Sin Cara for botching random things like tags and climbing the turnbuckle, but he did well in the ring.

Nobody likes Mason Ryan. Dolph Ziggler came out to a 50/50 reaction.

Mick Foley is always loved, but once the This is Your Life segment started, he was getting boo’d. I know he was trying to get people to like Cena through him, but it sort of had a reverse reaction. Crowd popped huge for Rock Bottom to Foley.

Sheamus and Swagger, crowd was dead. Absolutely dead.

Of course the male crowd loved Kelly Kelly and her Maxim shoot video. The promo was longer than the match itself.

Not sure how it translated on camera, but Alberto Del Rio got a more than warm welcome during the tag match. Nothing like Punk’s reaction, but it was definitely better than Mark Henry’s.

Santino is one of the most over individuals in WWE. Everyone loves him. Nash got a good reaction too and we were happy he didn’t drop Santino on his shoulder with his Jacknife.

Each member of Team Barrett cut a promo during the commercial break and everyone on that team is good on the mic. Barrett said there was no comparing his team to Orton’s.

Awesome Truth got a better reaction than I thought, but again, The Rock was the reason to be there. Starting the “Boots to Asses” chants were a blast. Rock holds so much power over his audience it’s ridiculous.

As always, WWE played promotional promos during the breaks such as DVD trailers (Stone Cold, True Story of Wrestlemania, The Reunion), plus 2 Wrestlemania promos and WWE Network.

The best was after the cameras stopped rolling. The original Dark Match Main Event was Cena, Punk & Ryder VS Mark Henry & Awesome Truth. Well, somehow Orton took Ryder’s place, and Boston was not happy. Huge “We Want Ryder” chants broke out, so like the performer he is, CM Punk ran to the back and grabbed Ryder, threw him in the ring, and it was now a 4-on-3 Tag Match. GTS to Truth, RKO to Henry, Ruff Ryder to Miz for the victory. Zack Ryder thanked everyone for the support, said he started his internet show to either get noticed or fired, and he loved everyone tonight. He called us all Broskis of the Week!

All in all a very exciting show. Probably my 15th or 20th show there, and it was one of the most fun.

Biggest Pop: 1. The Rock, 2. CM Punk, 3. Zack Ryder, 4. Mick Foley, 5. Randy Orton

Biggest Heat: 1. Vickie Guerrero, 2. Michael Cole, 3. Mark Henry, 4. Alberto Del Rio, 5. John Cena